Big Week for Memphis Baseball

Tues., Feb. 23 | 4 p.m. CT
Memphis (1-2) at #20 Mississippi State (2-2)
Date: Feb. 23, 2016
Location: Starkville, Miss.
Venue: Dudy Noble Field
Twitter Updates: @MemphisBaseball
TV: SECN+ | Radio: WUMR 91.7 FM | Live Stats: G ameTracker

Wed., Feb. 24 | 4 p.m. CT
Belmont (2-1) at Memphis (1-2)
Date: Feb. 24, 2016
Location: Memphis, Tenn.
Venue: FedExPark
Twitter Updates: @MemphisBaseball
Web: Memphis Tiger Network
Radio: WUMR 91.7 FM | Live Stats: StatBroadcast

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Memphis baseball squad will travel to take on No. 20 Mississippi State Tuesday at 4 p.m. in Starkville, Miss. before hosting Belmont for the home opener at FedExPark Wednesday at 4 p.m. The Tigers (1-2) will be playing their fourth straight game against an SEC opponent to start the season.

The matchup with the nationally-ranked Bulldogs (2-2) will be broadcast on SEC Network + and can be seen on the WatchESPN/ESPN3.

Fans who can't make it to FedExPark can watch the home opener against Belmont (2-1) online at GoTigersGo.com/Watch.

Leading Off
• Memphis has won the last two meetings with Mississippi State and has won three of the last four against the Bulldogs. The Tigers topped the Bulldogs 7-1 at AutoZone Park last season.
•The Tigers welcome Belmont to FedExPark for the home opener. Memphis and Belmont played three midweek games last season with Memphis taking two of three.
• For the second consecutive season, Memphis opened the season on the road and went 1-2. The Tigers opened the year at home the previous five seasons (2010-14).
• Memphis is 5-7 on Opening Day under head coach Daron Schoenrock after the loss to Tennessee Friday night.
• Memphis had success against teams from the Southeastern Conference last season, posting a 3-2 record with wins over Arkansas, Ole Miss and Mississippi State.
• The Tigers' junior center fielder and lead-off batter, Darien Tubbs, enters the season as the American Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year, as voted on by the league's head coaches.
• Memphis junior closer Nolan Blackwood was named a Louisville Slugger Preseason second team All-American after he recorded a school-record 14 saves in 2015.
• The duo of Darien Tubbs and Nolan Blackwood are Memphis' only representatives on the American Preseason All-Conference team.
• Memphis was picked to finish seventh in the American Athletic Conference by the league's head coaches.
• The Tigers will feature an abundance of youth on the mound with seven freshman pitchers in addition to four sophomores.
• Memphis returns five position starters from last season and eight of the nine Opening Day starters had Division I Baseball experience.
• The Tigers will be road-tested early with 10 of the first 14 games away from home.
• For the 16th consecutive season Memphis will play select games at AutoZone Park, the home of the St. Louis Cardinals AAA-Affiliate Memphis Redbirds. This year's schedule features two games – against Ole Miss on March 30 and versus Arkansas on April 6.
• The Memphis baseball program is in the fourth season as a partner with Baden Sports and swings the Axe Bat exclusively.

The Series with Mississippi State
Mississippi State leads the series with Memphis, 32-12, since 1978 but the Tigers hold a 3-1 edge over the last four seasons. Memphis also has won the last two meetings in Starkville. The last time the two teams met at Dudy Noble Field, Memphis beat the then seventh-ranked Bulldogs, 6-4. Mississippi State has on two occasions put together an eight-game winning streak against Memphis, from 1996-2003 and from 2004-07.

Recent History with the SEC
Despite going 1-2 during the opening weekend against Tennessee, Memphis still owns a 14-10 record against teams from the nation's toughest conference, the SEC, since the 2012 season. Last year the Tigers beat Arkansas, Ole Miss and Mississippi State to finish with a 3-2 record against the SEC. The team Memphis has had the most success against in recent years is Ole Miss, with five wins over the Rebels dating back to 2012. Memphis swept Missouri in a three-game series at FedExPark in 2013, the school's first season in the SEC. Memphis also took two-of-three from Mizzou in 2012 while they were still a member of the Big 12.

The Series with Belmont
Belmont and Memphis have only met five times previously, with the series between the two beginning in 2014. The Bruins have only had a Division I baseball program since 1998. Last year the teams played a three-game midweek series during the month of April. Memphis won the first meeting, in Nashville (4/6), before the teams split a pair of games at FedExPark a week apart (4/15 & 4/21). In 2014 the teams split a pair of midweek games with each team winning on its home field.

Opening Weekend
For the second consecutive season, Memphis went on the road to open the year and went 1-2 on the weekend. The Tigers dropped the opener to Tennessee before bouncing back to claim Game 2. The rubber match was the tightest game of the series, with the Volunteers edging it 5-2. In the Tigers win on Saturday the bats broke out in a big way, totaling 13 runs on 15 hits. Memphis also got a solid performance out of sophomore starting pitcher Connor Alexander, who tossed six innings and allowed just three runs with five strikeouts. Game 2 was the only one in which Memphis did not commit an error in the field. Junior center fielder Darien Tubbs had a hot start to the season with six hits, including two doubles and a triple, two RBI and four runs scored. Tubbs also threw a runner out at the plate for his first outfield assist of the season.

Road Tested Early
Memphis will play 10 of its first 14 games on the road, including five of the Tigers' seven scheduled match-ups with SEC teams. The tough schedule away from home early in the season could benefit the team later as they will play three of the top for teams in the American Athletic Conference on the road. Memphis plays at USF in early April before traveling to Houston and Tulane in back-to-back weekends in May.

Well Traveled
This season's schedule will see Memphis play games in 10 different states – Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Texas and of course Tennessee. The team will rack up nearly 8,000 miles trekking across the country during the regular season. During the third week of the season Memphis will stay out on the road for an eight-day stretch for games at Ole Miss, Georgia Southern and Middle Tennessee over spring break. That trip alone will cover 1,271 miles. The team will make two flights during the regular season, to USF and Houston, and will travel by bus for the rest of the games. Following the conclusion of the regular season Memphis will fly back to Florida for the American Athletic Conference Championship that runs May 24-29 at Bright House Field in Clearwater.

Preseason Player of the Year
Following a breakout season as a sophomore in 2015, Darien Tubbs was named as the American Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year. The Cookville, Tenn. native, started all 58 games in center field and in the lead off spot in the batting order. He was named to the all-conference second team after leading the Tigers with a .321 batting average, 75 hits, 57 runs scored and 24 stolen bases. Tubbs had three separate double-digit hitting streaks during the season, including a season-best 14-game hitting streak from March 9 to March 28. Tubbs reached base in 31 straight contests during the year and managed to get on base in each of the first 53 games of the season, only failing to reach safely in the second game of the series against ECU. He finished the year by reaching in 56 of the 58 games.

Preseason All-American
Nolan Blackwood set the program record for saves in a single season with 14 last year and finished with a microscopic 0.52 earned run average. He was named an NCBWA second-team All-American, becoming only the second Memphis pitcher to earn All-America honors. The Southaven, Miss. product, moved to third all-time in school history with 17 career saves and finished with a 2-1 record in 34.2 innings of work over 25 appearances. Blackwood allowed only two runs during the season and opponents batted just .225 against him. He didn't allow a run in his first 13 appearances of the season. As a freshman he set the program record for single-season appearances with 31 and recorded his first three career saves.

Up Next
Memphis will host SIU-Edwardsville for the first weekend series of the season at FedExPark. The Cougars were swept on the road at No. 2 Louisville to open the season and do not play again before coming to Memphis. SIUE was outscored 43-5 in the three-game set. The series between Memphis and SIUE is tied 3-3 dating back to 2009. The Cougars took two-of-three from the Tigers at FedExPark in 2012.

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Players Mentioned

Connor Alexander

Nolan Blackwood

Darien Tubbs